Somalia's new foreign minister said Friday that the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab is controlling the fighting in Mogadishu and poses a threat to the entire country.
Mohamed Abullahi Omaar told reporters that the group's ideology is not one which recognizes the values and the interests of the Somali people.
"This is now a threat not only to the government, but to the Somali nation and sovereignty," Omaar said. "So for us it is a war, and it is a war that needs to be won."
Somalia is riven by fighting among clan warlords and an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing for their lives in recent years. Insurgents are trying to topple the country's Western-backed government and install a strict Islamic state, and the latest surge of violence this month has killed about 200 people.
Al-Shabab says it is fighting for the country and against a government it says is imposed by the West.
On Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to condemn the recent surge in fighting in Somalia and called for an end to actions that undermine the country's government.
Omaar told reporters that Somalia lacks the resources to properly fight back, noting that al-Shabab would not be so hard to defeat if the government could have access to the necessary technology and supplies.
"We have the men. We have the intelligence. We have the knowledge. We know the terrain. We know the politics. We know the clans. We know the leaders," Omaar said. "What we need are the resources."
Last month, the European Union said it would contribute
Source: Taiwan News
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